On November 6, 2015, Soonfor Home Software International Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Soonfor) and Central South University of Forestry and Technology (hereinafter referred to as Central South Forestry) officially launched a strategic cooperation to jointly promote the digital upgrading of China's home furnishing industry. That afternoon, the two sides held in Changsha, Hunan the unveiling ceremony for the Furniture ERP Management System Teaching Laboratory, the signing ceremony for the Soonfor Home Industry Digitalization Reward Fund agreement, and the appointment ceremony for the Guest Professor of Central South University of Forestry and Technology. Soonfor Chairman Zhang Aiguo and Manager Zhu Chunmei, together with Vice Presidents Zhu Daohong and Liu Yuan of Central South Forestry, Dean Liu Wenjin of the School of Furniture and Art Design, Vice Dean Li Kezhong, and Deputy Party Secretary He Wei jointly attended the event. 
(Speech by Vice President Zhu Daohong of Central South Forestry)
Over the past 20 years, Soonfor has focused on management software for the digitalization of the home furnishing industry. Through many years of serving home furnishing enterprises, Soonfor found that most of them have a relatively weak talent base when implementing digital management software and lack truly capable personnel who understand how to use such systems. As a result, the implementation process moves slowly and the software's full value is hard to realize. As digitalization has risen to the level of national strategy, Chairman Zhang Aiguo clearly pointed out: "If the home furnishing industry truly wants to use digitalization to achieve transformation and upgrading, it must begin with talent cultivation." Central South Forestry is a comprehensive university with profound teaching and scientific research strength, and its School of Furniture and Art Design also has substantial influence in the home furnishing field. During teaching and enterprise visits, Dean Liu Wenjin found that past teaching in furniture design had a tendency toward empty theory, resulting in students lacking concrete practical ability and making it difficult to quickly match enterprise needs. In order to follow the trend of the digital era and cultivate practical composite talents combining theory and practice, Dean Liu Wenjin has been committed to promoting school-enterprise cooperation. He believes: "The future of furniture professional education must lie in digitalization and practical application." Soonfor and Central South Forestry share the same views on the development of the home furnishing industry. After in-depth discussion, the two sides decided to join hands to jointly advance the process of digitalization in China's home furnishing industry. This strategic cooperation mainly involves three levels. The Furniture ERP Management System Teaching Laboratory is the foundational content of this cooperation. Soonfor will provide Central South Forestry with ERP software and technical support worth RMB 1. million and will jointly build the Furniture ERP Management Course. This course will officially begin in the second semester of the current academic year and will become a compulsory course at Central South Forestry. Among furniture design majors nationwide, Central South Forestry's launch of the Furniture ERP Management Course is still a pioneering initiative, and Dean Liu Wenjin has firmly stated that he intends to build it into a national demonstration course. 
(Vice President Zhu Daohong and Chairman Zhang Aiguo jointly unveil the ERP laboratory plaque)
The second item of cooperation is the appointment of Chairman Zhang Aiguo as a guest professor at Central South University of Forestry and Technology. The purpose of this cooperation is to bring practical experts from the furniture industry into universities and accelerate the cultivation of students' practical ability. Before long, Professor Zhang Aiguo will also take on the responsibility of supervising graduate students at Central South Forestry, leading them to grow quickly through real-world projects. (Vice President Liu Yuan of Central South Forestry presents the guest professor appointment letter to Chairman Zhang Aiguo)
The Soonfor Home Industry Digitalization Reward Fund is the third item of this cooperation. In order to further promote the digital upgrading of the home furnishing industry and implement the national manufacturing power strategy called for in the State Council's Outline for the Development of China's Manufacturing Industry (2015-2025), Soonfor invested RMB 2. million to establish this fund. The fund has set up three awards: the Soonfor Contribution Award for Home Industry Digitalization Promotion, the Soonfor Home Industry Digitalization Cultivation Award, and the Soonfor Outstanding Home Industry Digital Talent Award, to reward schools, teachers, and students who have made contributions to promoting digitalization in the home furnishing industry. (Dean Liu Wenjin and Chairman Zhang Aiguo sign the agreement for the Soonfor Home Industry Digitalization Reward Fund)
On the day of the appointment ceremony, Professor Zhang Aiguo gave a lecture to furniture design students on Furniture Industry Development Trends and Talent Strategy. The students said they benefited greatly from the large number of forward-looking ideas and practical cases he shared. (Professor Zhang Aiguo gives a lecture to furniture design students)
Soonfor and Central South Forestry also established the School-Enterprise Promotion Alliance for Home Industry Digitalization, creating a daily communication and working mechanism that embeds the cultivation of digital home furnishing talent and the promotion of digitalization in the home furnishing industry into routine work. With the arrival of the digital era, traditional home furnishing enterprises face pressure to transform and upgrade, and enterprise managers are also eager to improve management through digitalization. The strategic cooperation between Soonfor and Central South Forestry will provide strong talent guarantees and technical support for industrial development and promote China's home furnishing industry into a new stage of development.
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